Relationships
How to respond to your partner’s good news
How you react when your partner gets a promotion or finishes a race matters more than you think. Research on “capitalization” shows what strengthens a relationship.
Relationships: marriage and intimacy
Marriages don’t run on feelings alone. They run on everyday habits: how we argue, how we notice each other, how we handle stress, kids and change. Here is what science knows about strong couples — and about getting through the hard seasons.
Explainers
Short guides to psychological ideas: what they mean, where they come from and what the research says.
- Criticism, contempt, defensiveness, stonewallingEvery couple argues. What predicts divorce is how. Here’s what John Gottman’s research found about the “Four Horsemen” and their antidotes.
- Gaslighting in relationships“That never happened.” “You’re too sensitive.” Gaslighting makes you doubt your own memory and perception. Here’s how to recognize it and protect yourself.
- The mental loadRemembering the dentist, noticing the kids need new shoes, planning the birthday party. The mental load is real work — and it’s often unevenly shared.
- What are attachment styles — and do they decide how you love?Secure, anxious or avoidant: how early bonds shape the way we love as adults, what research says about attachment in marriage, and whether your style can change.
- Emotional affairsLate-night texts, secret confidences, a “work spouse.” When does a close friendship become an emotional affair — and why does it hurt so much?
- The five love languagesWords, time, gifts, acts of service, touch. Everyone knows the five love languages, but researchers have tested the theory — and the results are surprising.
Articles
Relationships
How to support your partner in a way that actually helps
Not all support helps. Research shows that some well-meant help backfires — and that the best support is often invisible.
RelationshipsExplainer
Criticism, contempt, defensiveness, stonewalling: the four warning signs in a marriage
Every couple argues. What predicts divorce is how. Here’s what John Gottman’s research found about the “Four Horsemen” and their antidotes.
RelationshipsExplainer
Gaslighting in relationships: the signs, and how to protect yourself
“That never happened.” “You’re too sensitive.” Gaslighting makes you doubt your own memory and perception. Here’s how to recognize it and protect yourself.
RelationshipsExplainer
The mental load: the invisible work of running a family
Remembering the dentist, noticing the kids need new shoes, planning the birthday party. The mental load is real work — and it’s often unevenly shared.
Relationships
Perpetual problems: why some arguments never get solved — and why that’s okay
Neat versus messy, saver versus spender, homebody versus social butterfly. Most couples argue about the same things for years. Here’s how to live with it well.
Relationships
How to fight fair: resolving conflict without damaging your relationship
Every couple argues. Research shows what separates healthy conflict from the kind that wears a marriage down — and how to argue so you end up closer.
RelationshipsExplainer
What are attachment styles — and do they decide how you love?
Secure, anxious or avoidant: how early bonds shape the way we love as adults, what research says about attachment in marriage, and whether your style can change.
RelationshipsExplainer
Emotional affairs: what they are and why they can hurt as much as physical cheating
Late-night texts, secret confidences, a “work spouse.” When does a close friendship become an emotional affair — and why does it hurt so much?
RelationshipsExplainer
The five love languages: what does the science actually say?
Words, time, gifts, acts of service, touch. Everyone knows the five love languages, but researchers have tested the theory — and the results are surprising.
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